Freight-car-door-operating mechanism.



No. 636,880. Patented Nov. 14, I899. I-\-. E. WITT.

FREIGHT CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

(Application filed Aug. 10, 1899.)

(No Moder.)

Wifgesses N L aepfer NITED STATES ATENT Futon.

AUSTIN E. VVITT, OF RAYMOND, ILLINOIS.

FREIGHT-CAR-DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,880, dated November 14, 1899.

Application filed August 10, 1899. Serial No. 726,824. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUSTIN E. WITT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Raymond, in the county of Montgomery and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Freight- Oar-Door-Operatin g Mechanism,of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in freight-car-door-operating mechanism.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of devices for operating freight-car doors and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient one adapted to be readily applied to freight-car doors of the ordinary construction and capable of enabling the same to be easily operated and conveniently sealed.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a freight-car provided with a door-operating mechanism constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a similar View, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a similar view on line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail viewillustrating the arrangement of the shield.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the draw lngs.

1 designates a sliding car-door suspended from an upper horizontal track bar or rail 2 by hangers 3 and gt and having its lower edge supported by a guide 5, which is mounted on the car 6. The horizontal track or rail is supported by brackets 7, which are provided with upwardly-extending flanges 8, forming guards for an operating-chain 9 to retain the same on guide-pulleys 10 and 11 and also to prevent the upper flight of the chain from dropping or sagging at the upper edge of the door and interfering with the operation thereof. The lower portions of the brackets are substantially L-shaped and extend beneath the track or rail and are secured to the car 6, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings. The hangers of the cardoor may be of any desired construction, and

able stop 12. The chain passes over the guidepulleys l0 and 11 and has its rear end 13 attached to the rear edge of the door, near the top thereof. The front portion of the chain extends downward from the guide-pulley 11 to an eye or staple 14 and upward therefrom to a guide-pulley 15 to. form the depending loop 16. The chain then extends from the guide-pulley 15 to the front edge of the door, to which it is secured. The guide-pulleys are preferably grooved, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and they are mounted in casings 17 and 18, provided with openings for the passage of the chain. The sides of the loops 16 are arranged within convenient reach of the operator and are adapted to be readily grasped to open and close the car-door.

The door is secured in its closed position by a pin 19, connected with the car-body by a short chain 22 and provided with an eye linked into the outer link of the said short chain. The pin 19, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings,is passed through one of the links of the operating-chain 9 and is arranged at the left-hand side of the loop 16, contiguous to the eye or staple 14, and it is secured in such position by the wire of a seal23. Thewireofthesealispassedthrough the eye or opening of the pin and through one of the links of the operating-chain 9, and it will be apparent that by arranging the pin at the left-hand side of the eye or staple 1 1 it will be impossible to open the door without breaking the seal. The eye of the pin is enlarged to form a head to prevent the said pin from falling through the links of the operating-chain.

The combined guards and supportingbrackets 7 engage or confine the upper flight of thechain adjacent to the casings, and thesaid upper flight is supported at points between the brackets by a guide 20, consisting of a plate having a substantially L-shaped .arm arranged contiguous to the projecting portion of the roof of the car, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The L-shaped upper portion of the guide 20 forms an opening for the passage of the upper flight of the chain and it confines the same.

When the door is closed, as shown in Fig. 1, the inner side of the depending loop 16 of l the opening of the door is limited by a suitthe operating-chain is drawn taut and is maintained so by the sealing device, so that the car-door is held securely in its closed position; but, if desired, any other lockin g device may be employed in addition to the means shown and described herein.

It will be seen that the operating mechanism is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, that it is adapted to slide a cardoor in either direction to open or close it, and that it is capable of receiving an ordinary car-seal. It will also be apparent that the combined brackets and guards are adapted to support the upper flight of the operatingchain and confine the same over the track or rail, so that it will not sag in front of the door, interfere with the operation thereof, or leave the guide pulleys or wheels.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

What is claimed is- 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car, and a sliding door, of guide-pulleys located at opposite sides of the door, a chain arranged on the guide-pulleys and connected with the opposite edges of the door, said chain being provided at one side of the door with a depending loop having contiguous sides adapted to receive the wire of a car-seal, and means for supporting the lowerend of the dependingloop, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car having a track-bar, and a sliding door mounted on the track-bar, the guide-pulley 10,arranged at the rear end of the track-bar, the guide-pulleys 11 and 15 arranged at the front end of the track-bar, the linked operating device arranged on the guidepulleys 10 and 11 and extending from the pulleys 10 and 15 to the door and provided with a loop depending from the front guidepulleys, a guiding device supporting the lower end of the loop, the combined brackets and guards supporting the track-bar and extending in front of the upper flight of the linked operating device, and the guide arranged between the brackets and receiving the linked operating device, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car and a sliding cardoor, ofguide-pulleys located at opposite sides of the door, a chain arranged on the guidepulleys and connected with the door and provided at one side thereof with a depending loop, a guide or eye receiving the lower portion of the loop, a pin passing through the chain at one side of the guide or eye and provided with an opening, and a seal havingits Wire passed through the opening of the pin and one of the links of the chain, substantially as described.

it. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car and a sliding cardoor, of guide-pulleys, a chain arranged on the guide-pulleys and connected with the door and provided with a loop, an eye receiving the loop, a pin having a head and arranged in one of the links of the chain adjacent to the said eye, and a short chain connecting the pin with the body of the car, said pin being provided with an opening adapted to receive the wire of a seal and designed to be con-- nected to the operating-chain by said wire, substantially as and for the purpose dc scribed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

AUSTIN E. \VITT.

Witnesses:

H. H. ZIMMERMAN, II. T. KASTIEN. 

